Big players in UK men’s grooming have upped product development

Last year saw the big names in men’s grooming up the ante with product development and skin care high on the agenda in the UK.

According to Mintel, there were 432 new products launched in the UK in 2012, highlighting another booming year for new product launches within the male grooming sector; and the dominant companies in the sector are not resting on their laurels, building on their already successful brands.

Product development leader Unilever almost doubled the number of products it introduced to the UK market, whilst L’Oréal increased its share of innovation by 5 per cent in 2012 and delivered 29 new products onto the shelves.

Between them they are responsible for almost 20 per cent of new launches in the market.

Sensitive skin trend

Mintel points out that the big story of 2012 for product development was formulations for sensitive skin; with men’s skin care reporting a 15.6 per cent increase in UK product launches in 2012.

According to the market researcher, the surge in dermatologically tested and alcohol-free products shows a clear indication of where men’s skin care concerns lie.

New products claiming to be alcohol-free were up by 116.7 per cent on the year before, whilst dermatologically tested were up by 85.7 per cent and sensitive skin claims up by 83.9 per cent.

This has largely been dominated by new formulations in deodorant; as many were relaunched with new claims such as long lasting, antiperspirant and alcohol-free.

There was also a typical focus on the post-shave routine, as alcohol-free formulations can help reduce the post-shave ‘sting’, and around one in ten skin care and shaving launches claimed to be alcohol-free.

In other news…

Mintel’s research also showed that men’s choice of products are guided more by lifestyle than feel-good factor with just 15 per cent saying that it is important that their packaging is environmentally friendly.

Furthermore, just 12 per cent of men pay attention to the ingredients in their toiletries, suggesting that a focus on botanical and herbal may have a lesser impact on men than it does on women.

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